FEDERAL WAY, Wash. — The parents of a baby kidnapped from the family's Federal Way home in February say they're facing daily trauma, income restrictions and uncertainty as the criminal case against the alleged abductors continues.
"It's something I will never be able to get over. It's heartbreaking," Dhalia Ardila said through a family friend acting a translator for KING 5. "I don't even know how to get on to the next day."
In March, Marrly Jariana Ardila-Urrego, 33, and Chun Ho Vincent Lai, 42, both pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping, robbery, burglary and assault. The two were pulled over Feb. 20 near Moses Lake about three hours after the kidnapping. The 7-month-old baby, found inside the car, was unharmed, prosecutors said.
Ardila-Urrego is a cousin of Dhalia Ardila.
"It's tough to know it wasn't a stranger. Someone that I know. Someone close to me. I'm at a loss for words," Ardila said, as she stood beside Carlos Diaz and their two children.
"They're the thing that keeps us together," said Diaz. "Having them is pure happiness. We want to do everything to protect these children."
Since the abduction, Diaz has cut back on work hours to spend more time with family and Ardila said she's terrified of being alone. As a result of reducing hours, money is tight, the family said.
Beyond their financial trouble, they're still trying to figure out how to confront to trauma.
"Sadly, we haven't been helped by anyone. We've been alone, dealing with this by ourselves," Ardila said.
King County Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Jennifer Phillips said the county has provided a victim advocate for the family, but admitted that additional resources, including money, aren't possible. She called it a statewide issue.
"At the moment I feel like some kind of therapy would help," Diaz said. "What we're going through is hard to get over."
The parents started a GoFundMe page in hopes of raising money to offset the costs of rent, therapy and food.
Both Ardila-Urrego and Lai were given no-contact orders for each other and the victims.
Suspects beat, zip-tie mother
Earlier this year, Ardila said she had been notified that her cousin would be visiting and wanted to hand-deliver clothing for one of her children, according to court documents. Ardila-Urrego told the mother she ordered a bed frame on Amazon for the baby's 2-year-old sibling, and it would be delivered Feb. 20.
Shortly Diaz left for work, Ardila said there was a knock on the door. When she looked through the window, she saw a man wearing a jacket and sunglasses and carrying an Amazon box. When she opened the door, the man punched her multiple times in the face and forced his way into her residence, according to probable cause documents.
A woman walked in after the man, who allegedly held the mother down and the man zip-tied her hands and feet. Police said the female suspect kept the woman down as the male suspect found her infant baby and walked out the door with her in a box. The suspect allegedly gestured that he would stab the woman's 2-year-old child if she didn't cooperate.
Police reviewed surveillance video from neighbors that showed the two suspects park near the residence and then leave shortly after exiting in a white sedan. The father of the woman who was assaulted was contacted by police and he told them he suspected his niece, Ardila-Urrego, was involved.
He told police that Ardila-Urrego had been insistent about getting the address of her cousin, which he found strange since he told police she did not keep close contact with the family.
Cellphone tracking information and automated license plate reader data from the Federal Bureau of Information helped officers narrow down the area where the suspects fled after the alleged kidnapping.
A Washington State Patrol trooper saw the vehicle, registered to Lai, driving east on I-90 near Moses Lake. A traffic stop was performed, and the two were arrested while the baby was retrieved and returned to its family.
The suspects also allegedly stole multiple iPhones and a tablet from the residence, which were later found in a bag in Lai's vehicle.
"The defendants came to Washington for the explicit reason of taking this baby, by force," wrote Senior Deputy Prosecutor Jennifer Phillips in the case summary and request for bail. She added that no mental illness or substance abuse was involved in the kidnapping, saying, "It appears that the victims were targeted because they were known to the defendants and known to have children."